Wolf that chased motorcyle on B.C. highway likely 'accustomed' to being fed by humans: park officials

The mysterious grey wolf that gained international attention for chasing a Banff, Alta., motorcyclist along a B.C. highway seems to have appeared at least two other times, leading wolf-watchers to the grim conclusion the animal’s days are likely numbered.

“This is not normal behaviour for a natural wild wolf,” said Shelley Black, co-founder of the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre, a wolf sanctuary just one hour north of the reported sightings, which occurred in Kootenay National Park.

Whether the wolf is crushed by a passing car or winds up in the gun sights of an animal control officer, Ms. Black held out little hope for its long-term survival.

On June 8, motorcyclist Tim Bartlett was cruising along Highway 93 near Radium, B.C., when an adult grey wolf darted at him from the trees and pursued him for more than one kilometre.

“It probably got to within a couple metres, easy, maybe a metre. If I’d have slowed down, I would have definitely hit it,” he told the National Post.

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This week, Mr. Bartlett’s story prompted Calgary-based geologist Shawn Bond to step forward with evidence of a similar encounter along the same stretch of highway on May 15.

A video taken by Mr. Bond shows a grey wolf trotting along the side of the highway, seemingly oblivious to traffic.

“We thought it was a dog at first but realized it was a grey wolf,” he said.

A week after Mr. Bond’s encounter, Calgary lawyer Tyler Murray also reported spotting a grey wolf by the side of the highway and stopping to snap a couple of close-up photos.

“There is a high, high probability that this wolf has been habituated and it is accustomed to getting food rewards from humans along that stretch of highway and that’s directly contributing to its current behaviour,” said a B.C. conservation officer operating in the area.

Nevertheless, B.C. conservation officers do not have jurisdiction over national parks, where the wolf in question is based.

All three sightings occurred along a section of B.C.’s Highway 93 that is notorious for tourists lobbing food at the wildlife. Most infamously, in July last year Andrea Rapcewicz, a local woman, photographed a wolf snacking on rice cakes tossed onto the side of the road by a pair of tourists.

“It’s tourists — they are ignorant [of] the rules,” said Ms. Rapcewicz, speaking by phone from Canmore, Alta. She added it is “entirely possible” the same wolf is responsible for the close encounters along Highway 93.

“This definitely sounds like a wolf that has been food conditioned by humans,” wrote Dan Hottle, a spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, in an email to the Post.

Only one handout can turn a wolf rogue, he said. In his view, the Kootenay wolf is highly likely to approach humans to “nip or bite if it smells food on someone.”

Park officials in Yellowstone deal with similar cases by trying to to “haze” the animal out of the area, hitting it with rubber bullets, bean-bag rounds and explosive shells.

“[I]f it kept returning to the site and approaching humans … we would more than likely euthanize the animal,” Mr. Hottle said.

On occasion, in the final days before they are shot, rogue Yellowstone wolves have been spotted chasing after motorcyclists or cars.

Parks Canada officials said only their wildlife specialists were regularly patrolling the area to get a closer look at the animal, but were hesitant to make any preliminary diagnosis.

“They say a fed animal is a dead animal; it’s certainly something we try our best to discourage,” said Omar McDadi, a Parks Canada spokesman.
“National parks are not zoos.”

Last summer, conservation officers in nearby Kananaskis County, Alta., were forced to destroy a wolf that had begun lunging at cars and motorcyclists after growing accustomed to food handouts.